The Perfect Architect
by stuckatschool
Summary: Because that's what he was trying to find. Rated for slight swearing.


**Arthur: Might? We're gonna need to do a little better than 'might'. **  
** Eames: Oh, thank you for your contribution, Arthur. **  
** Arthur: Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames. **  
** [_Eames appears confused at the word_] **  
** Arthur: Specificity?**

**I love that scene :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the pencil and paper that this was originally written on. . . .  
**

In the field of extraction, architects were a dime a dozen.  
A good extractor is hard to find. A great extractor even harder. So when Arthur realized that his partner, Dominic Cobb, was an amazing extractor he decided to stick with him on all jobs.  
Arthur himself was a excellent point man. One of the best, if not **_the_** best( there was no room for modesty in this field). He knew details and facts as if he was born with the knowledge.  
So with Dominic being the best extractor and Arthur being the best point man, all they needed for the perfect team was the best architect.  
And there was the problem. Arthur had met few good architects, and, in the end, never liked any of them.

Mack was a great architect. And the first one Arthur ever worked with. A seemingly nice 50 year old man, Mack built believable cities, and kept to himself. True, he could never quite grasp the idea of paradoxes  
( which annoyed the point man) but Arthur had nothing against him personally. That is, until Cobb discovered him was wiring parts of _**their**_ pay into overseas bank accounts.  
He wasn't sure what Cobb did to him, but even Arthur couldn't find any information on him afterwards.

Nash was a tolerable architect. It was a last minute job, and they needed someone quick. Cobb grabbed Nash off the extractors market a week before they were suppose to go under. Cobb was suppose to be the architect, but the Mal problem had gotten out of hand, so last minute help was called in.  
The moment that Saito started to laugh as he rubbed the carpet, Arthur knew that Nash had fucked up royally.  
" Asshole! How did you mess up the carpet?" He yelled, quickly attempting to clean up the evidence.  
" I didn't know he was going to rub his damn cheek on it!" was the panicking man's excuse. Arthur, the man that was all about the details, didn't accept this. Now, because of this jackass's mistake, the mission had failed and he had to run for it.  
He was almost happy to see him be dragged off to who-knows-where.

Ariadne was. . . .well, she was the perfect architect.

At first, he had his doubts. Not only was she young, and inexperienced, but she was a**_ female._**  
It's not that he was sexist. Far from it. It was just that he had always worked with men. It was a concern to him that a female would be working in close quarters with 4 men for awhile, a particularly attractive female at that. This would be a distraction.  
But she proved him wrong, at least on the point of her not being good. Not only did she pick up the art of dream construction fast, but she was amazing. Sure, there was still stuff she needed to learn, but he was more than happy to teach her. She hung on his every word and absorbed every lesson.  
On the matter of her presence being a distraction, however. . . . .  
He couldn't help but look at her sometimes. She was dedicated in a way that far exceeded her age. She had a passion burning in her that he greatly admired. And she was quite beautiful too.  
When Arthur heard she was coming into the dream with him, he was upset to say the least. There was danger that he didn't think she could handle, and protested lividly to have her sit out, but Cobb wouldn't budge.  
" Since when do you care so much?" Eames said after Cobb walked away.  
That's when it occurred to him. He never cared. This life was 'every man for himself". So why was he fighting so hard now?

At the airport, after a successful inception, Arthur saw Ariadne standing at the sidelines, looking lost. Despite every fiber of his stick-to-the-rules being screaming to walk away, he just couldn't.  
" Join me for coffee." he said, not waiting for a response. He ushered her forward, placing his hand on the small of her back and enjoying the shiver that his touch caused.  
After sitting down in a quite corner, he watched her idly sip her drink.  
" So, do you have any plans now?" he asked.  
She looked up at him and shook her head.  
" Not really. I mean, I'm probably going to sight see for a couple of days. Enjoy the structures of the building around here, ya know?" she explained.  
If he had asked any other architect that question, they without a doubt would had planned to go spend their newly earned money and get out as fast as possible. But not her. She truly was an architect, through and through.  
Arthur stared at her for a moment, before smiling.  
She gave him a confused look, which he responded to by leaning in and gesturing for her to do the same. She mimicked him, meeting him half way across the table. Before she could asked him what he wanted, he crashed their lips together, all his pent up desire being released. Ariadne was shocked at first, before she gave in and grabbed the back of his neck to bring him closer. Lips moved and tongues mingled. Though the need for air was great, the clearing of the throats from the elderly couple next to them is what brought them back to reality.  
Without skipping a beat, he gently lifted her from her chair and escorted her from the café.  
Grasping his hand in her own, she walked with him through the crowded streets.  
He didn't have a plan, even though he was the best point man.  
She couldn't imagine the events that had played out, even though she was the (new) best architect.  
But right now, they weren't the best in the business.  
Right now, they were just two people, walking down the street, enjoying the architecture of the city.

**I watched this movie in class, and fell in love, partly because of the amazing plot and acting, partly because of my smart ass friends making comments the whole way through it, my favorite being:**

**_At the scene where Arthur is fighting in zero gravity:_**

**Girl behind me: He should have been spider-man!**

**Girl next to me: (with completely straight face) He should have been my boyfriend.  
**


End file.
